Saudi Arabia refuses to hand over the deposed president on charges of killing 43 demonstrators

Tunis (Islam Times) – Tunis is witnessing a state of anger and resentment towards the Saudi position regarding the refusal of handing over the fugitive president Zein El Abidine Ben Ali to the Tunisian Court to face charges of issuing orders to kill demonstrators and steal the wealth of the country.

Statements in activists’ blogs demanded the interim government of Tunis to cut off ties with the Saudi regime and some described the Saudi Arabian embassy’s role as conspiring against the Tunisian revolution and a starting point for plants to support the remnants of the regime and support extremist Wahhabi groups to implement the American-Saudi project in Tunis similar to events in Egypt.

The head of the military court in Tunis had announced yesterday that Saudi Arabia ignored Tunis’s request to hand over the deposed president Zein El Abidine Ben Ali on grounds of the stated charges.

He added that they have asked for the extradition of Ben Ali twice but they have received no answer.

Yesterday, the absentia trial of Ben Ali and about 40 officials from his regime was resumed and that on charges of killing 43 demonstrators and injuring 97 others in Tunis. In case they are found guilty, Ben Ali and senior officials in his regime which include two former Foreign Ministers, they might face the death penalty.

The new Tunisian authorities had placed about 15 senior officials in the former regime, including the last two interior ministers and the former chief of presidential security, in precautionary detainment and the trials continue despite the absence of 27 fugitives from justice.